The Children'?N????e??os Movement

By Diana Ross, Kompan Unique Playgrounds

Neptune Park in Saratoga Springs, Utah, is home to one of the tallest safety‐certified play structures in North America, Berliner Seilfabrik'?N????e??os 30'?N????e??o-2'?N????e?? Neptun XXL climber. The landscape architect chose the structure to mirror the mountainous natural features that surround Saratoga Springs.

Situated on the northern shore of Utah Lake, the rapidly growing community of Saratoga Springs is home to a fair share of new parks. However, community officials decided that the city needed a special park to draw citizens together, outside their homes and in view of Utah'?N????e??os picturesque outdoors.

City facilities manager Mark Edwards sat down with Greg Graves, head of landscape architecture for J-U-B Engineers, to discuss plans for a 10.8-acre space designated by the city. After examining suggestions from stakeholders (more soccer fields, more basketball courts, a performance art space), Edwards and Graves still did not have a centerpiece to make the park the exceptional destination they envisioned. Graves suggested they focus on the play area, making it the catalyst for the overall design.

Additional play structures with a variety of climbing, swinging, spinning and sliding components were installed in the play area (Kompan Unique Playgrounds) to complement the centerpiece.

The plan for the play area was to encourage involvement from children of all age groups and abilities, centered on structures that would keep their young minds active as well. Graves and his team of landscape architects, Bronson Tatton and Jon Ruedas, set out to find ideas that would establish this dynamic. While designing the park, however, the team realized their plans exceeded their funding.

Enter Patti Balli of the Utah Jazz and Larry H. Miller Charities, who arranged a $25,000 donation to assist in installing the basketball courts, where the local Junior Jazz teams now play. Thanks to their donation, the new post-tension concrete courts are emblazoned with the Utah Jazz colors and logo, flanked by six professional glass backboards, four of which can be lowered for the aforementioned Junior players.

The structure'?N????e??os cables are positioned to prevent falls of over six feet. When J-U-B Engineers and the city facilities department showed the plans to the city council, they were so taken with the design that they named the 10.8-acre park after the play structure.

The design team found their centerpiece with a play structure called the Neptun XXL from Berliner Seilfabrik. (Edwards, a former Californian, calls it the park'?N????e??os '?N????e??E-ticket ride.'?N????e??)

The climbing pyramid stands 30'?N????e??o-2'?N????e?? tall and consists of climbing cables that crisscross the entire structure, allowing older children (and some adventurous adults) to climb to the peak. Despite its height, the structure'?N????e??os design ensures the potential fall height never exceeds six feet. When the Saratoga Springs city council saw images of the climbing structure, they were so taken with it, they decided not only to approve its purchase but to name the whole park after it. Today, the city is the proud home of Neptune Park, and the structure is one of the tallest safety-certified play structures on the North American continent.

The choice of the mountainous play structure makes sense, given Saratoga Springs'?N????e??o proximity to natural geological wonders like Utah'?N????e??os Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. '?N????e??We wanted a play piece that referenced the natural surroundings, not replicated it,'?N????e?? said Graves. '?N????e??It wouldn'?N????e??ot make sense to have a faux rock climbing structure at this playground when the real thing is right outside the kids'?N????e??o doors.'?N????e??

Graves'?N????e??os J-U-B design team included all kinds of movement opportunities with additional structures from Berliner and Kompan Unique Playgrounds. Besides climbing, children can swing, slide, stretch, bounce, see-saw, balance, run, and most of all, spin '?N????e??(R) alone, in twos, or more than a dozen children at once. As Edwards said, '?N????e??We thought we had one E-ticket ride. As it turns out, they'?N????e??ore all E-ticket rides.

The climbing structure'?N????e??os transparency makes child supervision easier. Some adventurous kids extend their climbing skills to the park'?N????e??os swing set.

'?N????e??Usage has exceeded our wildest expectations,'?N????e?? Edwards continued. '?N????e??Every afternoon, we see 200 people at the park. Kids wait in line to get on some of the play features. I have never seen so many kids in one place.'?N????e??

Edwards finds the sight of adults from nearby communities getting involved with their children, each another, and other people'?N????e??os children at the park especially gratifying. '?N????e??This park brings people out to interact with each other, and the children seem to be the ones giving the marching orders,'?N????e?? Edwards said. '?N????e??They want to come to the park, so the whole family comes to the park. I also like the idea that children are putting themselves in charge of their own fitness and exercise because playing actively is how children stay fit.'?N????e??